100 FR - 51.09 (24.70/26.39) - Spun my wheels and didn't nail my turns like I wanted to. Would have liked to have been under 51. But really can't complain.

400 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

100 BK - 1:02.47 (30.65/31.79) - My throwaway event. I never race backstroke so I figured, "why not?" Second 50 was much better than the first 50.

600 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

100 FL - 55.98 (26.30/29.68) - Best race of the afternoon. Was really happy with this time given all the racing I had already done prior. Locked up a little bit on the last 4-5 strokes, but really felt in control for the rest of the race.

400 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

200 I.M. - 2:06.81 (26.74/33.73/36.76/29.58) - By this point I was starting to run on fumes. Wasn't sure what to expect from this race. Happy with the time and effort for right now, but it definitely exposed the fact that I have not done any serious I.M. training!

600 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

50 FR - 23.53 (11.20/12.33) - Had to breathe twice to get through it. Doug actually recorded the race (unbeknownst to me at the time). When I can figure out how to get it off my phone I will post it. It was a whole lot of flailing propped up with a whole lot of kicking.

200 EZ

Total: 4550

Really wanted to push my body to the limit with this meet. High race volume and short turnaround. Today's session from the start of warm-up to the end of the meet was only 3 hours.

200 FR - 1:55.30 (26.42/29.42/29.64/29.82) - I was a little hurried with my stroke and had trouble settling into the race. This has always been a problem for me, and the 200 doesn't provide a lot of time to "settle in." Probably why this is my least favorite freestyle distance to race.

This race was 25 minutes after my 200. I was stuck in third gear until the last 75 yards. Did not feel like I died though. I felt good throughout the race. The age groupers on either side of me shot off to fast starts. This was nice because it forced me to just swim my own race, and by the 200, I had reeled them in and passed them. By the 300, I was several body-lengths ahead of the field.

600 EZ (100 FR/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

Total: 3500

SHOUT OUT: Trip, who did the same double as me. He got one extra heat of the 200 to rest since he was the heat before me. He was a VERY respectable 2:02/5:37 (the latter was a new Arkansas Masters record). Doug also simultaneously swam an amazing 50 FR and a terrible 200 FR. He was going for a 50 split (23.60). I am not sure he would want me to post his overall 200 FR time here, and honestly it took so long for him to finish I lost interest in the race and stopped paying attention

Really felt in control of the race from the horn. I definitely felt like I had more to give when I finished it. Really happy with the swim given it came on the last day of the meet. Overall happy with how the meet went. I think I am in a good place headed into the next training cycle. Next taper meet on the horizon is YMCA Masters Nationals, April 11-14, 2019. Hardest part of that meet is going to be determining my event line up :/

200 FL - 2:03.22 (26.43/30.13/32.35/34.31) - Well that is the best opening 100 I have ever had for a 200 fly, both in feel and time. However, the less than 12 hour turnaround from my 1650 really came back to bite me on the last 60 yards. I haven't pushed my limits nearly as much as I need to training butterfly, but will be doing a lot more going forward. Not unhappy with the swim, because it's great that I am going as fast as I was 5 years ago in this event, and my lifetime best is only 2:02. It is just frustrating that I was 1:28.9 at the 150 and couldn't come home any faster.

So yeah, I was feeling great until about the 800. I felt the shift, and the wheels start to loosen on the bus. The splits just confirm what I felt. I haven't swam that event in over 20 years, and that was certainly my first ever 1650 that I voluntarily entered. My goal time in April is 16:49. The swim gives me hope, but I have A LOT of work still to do!

So I got to the meet late and expected it to be running behind schedule. Instead they were 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Then the gutter swallowed my brand new cap! I had to scramble to find one before my race. I had no time to get a proper warm up in so it was really hard to get going.

200 FR - 2:13.14 (1:03.07/1:10.07) - Not a great race. Felt too rushed on the first 75 meters. I also blew out my LZR jammer about 10 minutes before the race, so I did this event and the 400 FR in my Nike brief.

500 EZ

**Intermission**
The 400 FR had its own separate session at 1:00 pm today. I met up with my family for breakfast after the 200 FR and then went back to the pool to stretch and warm up again for the 400.

400 FR - 4:39.92 - (31.5/34.8/35.6/35.8/35.9/35.2/36.2/34.6) - While it didn't feel as great as the 800 on Friday (nothing else felt as good as that all weekend!), I was pleasantly surprised by how well the race went. I wanted to definitely be under 4:40 since I was out in 4:40 in my 800, but given the way my 200 felt this morning, I was a little apprehensive going into the race. If the 800 was my hardest event I did all weekend, today was easily the hardest day. Racing a 200/400 FR double in what was basically one elongated session, and the final day of the meet, was very taxing. If I could do it all over again I might have bagged the 200 FR to be more rested for the 400, but whatever, a lifetime best is still a lifetime best!

Total: 2800

SHOUT OUT: Trip Strauss, who came to watch Marvin Schwartz (and maybe me?) swim the 400. He was gracious enough to be my backup timer as well. I wish you could have been racing the event with me, Trip

100 FR - 58.80 - A good race, but not a great race. I spun my wheels too much on the opening 50, and I switched to breathing every 4th stroke too early on the second 50. I also got caught up in what the swimmer next to me was doing instead of swimming my own race.

200 BK - 2:39.33 (1:16.57/1:22.76) - This was my throw-away event. I just wanted to see what I could go in a race I don't normally swim, while being shaved and tapered. Man do I not like backstroke!

Add in about 1400 assorted warm up and warm-down during the course of the meet.

Groin still sore today, but still decided to wake up early and get some more racing in.

400 FR - 4:54.03 (32.7/36.4/36.6/37.2/37.3/37.6/37.9/38.0) - Opening 100 felt great, and I started to feel like I was getting from 3rd gear into 4th gear on the second 100. However then the piano started to fall on my back. I definitely felt labored on the last 150. A combination I am sure of still being out of shape and also being exhausted from last week’s training.

Total: ~1800

Four more days of “training camp,” and then I’ll take a rest day on Friday when I drive home.

Had a good warm up at this meet and was really looking forward to seeing how I raced after a week of heavy training. However, while warming up for the 100 BR, I felt my groin start to go. Bummer. Had to scratch the event. Really thought I had done a good job with strengthening and conditioning my hip adductors and abductors, but it appears I need to work harder at this.

200 FR - 2:17.05 (31.5/34.5/35.6/35.7) - Missed my first turn and really lost my kick the last 40 meters. It’s the fastest time I have gone this season, but not by much. I was expecting a little better out of myself in this event.

Back in Cincinnati visiting my folks. Due to trip preparations and an untimely thunderstorm/power outage, I was unable to swim Friday. I was travelling all day Saturday so no swimming that day either. I was a little apprehensive about how I might swim having not touched the water since Thursday morning and coming off a 9 hour drive in the car, but I was pleasantly surprised.

100 FR - 1:00.54 (28.85/31.69) - I was a little slow on my start, and flipped 6th at the wall, but really came charging home on the back half to finish second in the heat. Kick felt great. I need to be more aggressive going out. My lifetime best in the event is only 58.2, so I am going to aim to beat that when I shave and taper.

100 BR - 1:19.04 (36.55/42.49) - This was my throw away event. I haven't raced breaststroke in 4 years. Felt in control for the first 50 (but not that fast). Definitely lost my catch and stroke and sank really low in the water on the last 40 meters. While my freestyle is coming along nicely, my breaststroke is going to need a lot of work in the coming months to get back to racing shape.

Total: 3000

I am in Cincinnati for two weeks and will be using it as a mini training camp with the club team. I am entered in another meet for next weekend.

200 FR - 2:17.29 - No splits at the moment. Sort of disappointed. Thought I might be a little faster than this given my two great weeks of training and the 200 coming on the first day of the meet (as opposed to the last day two weeks ago). Then again maybe it wasn't that great because of the last two weeks of good training. Also in all fairness, even more so than backstroke, for whatever reason, the 200 FR, yards and meters, is definitely my worst event. Because of this maybe I shouldn't expect that much from it!

Up early this morning for a swim at Woodford State Park, and it was just Greg and myself to enjoy the solitude of the overcast and rather gloomy morning before some rain moved in. We did a quick swim of 0.6 miles. Off to help my father-in-law as he and his wife renew their vows, then I will get some lawn work done (if the grass drys out) and finally to Manchester with my son for a Led Zeppelin tribute band tonight.

(Greg embarking on our journey)

BORKED
(Short clip from today - notice that the water is almost tea-link in color due to the high tannin content. Wild to swim in)

[I am still having issues with water droplets on the housing of the GoPro. I guess I will have to try some rain-ex, or maybe the shark spit I use in the goggles from time to time. I would also be interested in an suggestions for mounts.]

I decided to scratch the finals last night and focus on being a dad. As much as I like racing I also thought this is a lot of kids main summer meet and as such me taking a finals spot was not the right think to do. Instead I had fun watching my daughter swim and have fun. Despite being slightly slower in her final she had a lot of fun.

I had a good night of sleep but this morning seemed to come too early. I did my normal warmup with some pace 50s and felt a little stiff. I notice this as a master when I swim multiple days where I get stiffer as the meet goes along. When I was younger I could do day after day with little to no ill affect. The mind still says I can do it but the body is fighting as hard as it can. Never mind. From here on out its a battle of mind over body.

Today I swam the 100 back and the 50 free. I felt really strong on the 100 back until about 85 meters and the last 15 hurt pretty bad. My splits were good although I think the second 50 could have been .5 or so faster if I had not tired. I went 1:05.6. I was pleased with this. Some rest and it will be interesting to see how fast I can go at Nationals. I have not swum a LCM back since I have been back, so I have nothing to compare this against which is actually kind of fun!

I was looking forward to the 50m free and thought I would have a good race. I had a great start and felt strong the whole way but when I looked up I went 26.2 which I was disappointed with. Tom said I had a great first 25 but my tempo dropped on the second 25. Despite the slower time I still had fun. Like last night I scratched the finals and will be dad again at finals tonight. My daughter is swimming the 100 back.

This weekend I am swimming in a USAS meet with my daughter. I am swimming Saturday and Sunday while my daughter swam all three days. I must admit I was jealous of her and would have loved to do the 100m free and the 400m free yesterday; alas I had to work.

My daughter who is 11 has had an awesome weekend so far doing best times on everything she has swum; 50 back, 100 free, 400 free, 200 free, and 200 back. In particular her 2:46 LCM 200 back was awesome dropping another 3 seconds from her entry time. It was great seeing her have fun with her friends with about 10, 11-12 year old girls dancing on the bulkhead ahead of finals.

I swam the 200free and the 200 back and did masters best in season times on both going 2:07.1(I thought I saw 2:06.9). Amazing how just the wrong side of 2:07.0 makes such a difference. I would have really like 2:06.9. My splits were great. My 200 back I went 2:21.7 which was over 3 seconds faster than I did at the this meet last year and again my splits were strong. I am swimming the 100 back and 50 free tomorrow. I plan on really attacking both events!

I start my taper at the end of next week which I am looking forward to. My endurance seems pretty good right now and I am really looking forward to some fast swims in a few weeks.

I swam the LPA meet in our home pool today. Linda Price Applewick was a coach in Rockwall and masters swimmer at Rockwall Aquatic Masters who passed away from Pancreatic cancer 5 years ago. The meet is very special to all those who knew Linda and is very well attended. This year Linda's mother and husband attended and they received a terrific reception.

Today ii was signed up to swim the 200 free, 50 free and the 1650 free. I ended up withdrawing from the mile due to having been gone the past two weeks, and then traveling this week, and not wanting to be a sore zombie before heading out of town again.

I showed up a little late for warm up but still managed to get my normal meet warmup and actually felt pretty good in the water. The meet ran very quick and before I knew it the 200 was up. I was seeded with my 1:48.05 from my shave meet in January and this was the fastest seed. I was not nervous this week and felt good ahead of the race. I had a great race and won the heat by about 6 seconds going a masters best time of 1:46.90. My splits were right where I hoped they would be, going 24.97, 27.13,27.41,27.39.

I just about had time to grab a quick warm down and then I had the 50 free. Technically this was a bad race with a slow start, bad streamline, crappy turn and another bad streamline, but still a masters best of 22.51. If I ever want to really be competitive on the 50 short course I need to work on some fundamentals like reaction time and streamlining on my starts and turns. The same thing happened today that happened at worlds and my hands separated on my entry. I think I have a lot more I can do to improve on this but I am likely not going to focus on this event for nationals.

I am stoked about the 200 free and all the pain I went through training to do this swim and last weekends swims was worth it. That all said I am dreading the thought of more of the 16x50s at 200 race pace and 16x100s at 500 race pace. I plan on swimming some longer yardage aerobic swims while in Atlanta this week and then sitting down with Tom next Friday and discussing Christmas training and starting to think about training for Nationals. Scary to think we only have 4 months til Spring Nationals. I suspect we will do some base building over Christmas and then start building up on the race pace work again. I am not excited about the thought of the training but if it pays off its going to be worth it.

Since my daughter aged up to 11/12 she has no longer got BB and A times in her weaker events so this weekend was a meet where she swam off strokes and new events. I don't have many events I can swim at this level but decided to swim the 100 fly this morning. I realized when I signed up that I had never swum a 100scy fly before(even in college). Growing up in England I swam scm and did the fly in that form many times. Yesterday my daughter did her first 200 breast and 200 fly and did awesome. This morning we headed to the pool together(this is my favorite part of the swim dad experience). She and I are very close but the drive to the meet is always special and this morning was no exception; we spoke swimming but she also told me she was proud of me but would be more proud if I did the 200 fly now she had done one.

It's a little awkward at these meets since I am the only master at them but I did the kids warm up off to the side. I try to let the kids be kids and not interfere; it seems to work best. I felt very sore from yesterday but did loosen up finally.

I was in the 10th event of the session and when it was my time to swim there was a mixup in my lane and I was not ready when the timer told me to step up. I did what I was told and it was fine but I was the last on the block and was not quite ready. As it turned out I swam in the wrong heat. That said I swam well and felt good until the final 10 yards and ended up going 56.x I could not see the .x but think it was 56.63. I hoped for a little quicker but I always do. It's hard to argue with a best time. I enjoyed the race and will swim it again. With some more training it could be an interesting event when I age up next year. I am also looking at a meet in the spring to do a 200 breast, 200 fly and 4 IM. My daughter beat me to them but I think I owe it to her.

Another fun fun day at the pool. I keep asking myself, why did I stop for 22 years?

First it's weird now how these meets are named. They used to be so and so meet but now they have this division level business. Anyhow today I had a USAS meet at my home pool in Rockwall. My daughter swam both days in the afternoon and I decided to just do the one session this morning where I signed up for the 200 back and the 500 free. I did not realize how fast the meet would run and it seemed like I had no rest after the 200 back before the 500 free. In reality I probably had an hour, but it did not feel like it. Despite being very stiff and sore from yesterday I had a great meet and I was very pleased with how I swam.

The 200 back was 4 seconds faster than I swam last season and to the best of my knowledge is a life time best(I never swam this in college). I have yet to swim this event rested and shaved.

I had optimistically hoped to go under 5mins on the 500 but alas I was just off. What was most exciting about both swims was the consistancy in my splits. This is a great time for this early in the season and I will take a lot of confidence from this swim going forward.

My my daughter had an awesome day too, with big drops in her 200 back(8 seconds) and her 500 free(42 seconds). She dropped time on every event today which was exciting to see.